Having just read three Kiss books I was unsure what I could possibly gain by reading this book but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I was attracted by its size and the short timespan it was covering. Overall however the pace we really good. There was one point before it moved on to the making of the second album where I got bored of all the touring comments however in general there was great insight into this crucial period for the band and their label Casablanca. The book is based on interviews of those involved and it gave a great insight. It is well worth the read. There is no way a band like Kiss could have made it today and it makes you wonder what great bands the world has missed because of this situation. On the other hand perhaps bands being able to finance themselves has also allowed them to survive. I suspect survive is the key word though. There are few bands with the rewards bands in the 70’s could achieve.

It is quite some time since I have read a book on Slade so this was a good if a little odd read. It was not really by Don and it was not written as if it was by Don. Lise use Don’s diaries (which he has kept since his car crash caused a short term memory dysfunction) and interviews with other artists. At times it was a little tedious read how nice Don is all the time but overall it was quite informative gave me a perspective I would otherwise be unaware off.

Don clearly is a nice guy as the book doesn’t knock anyone but it also doesn’t really give too much insight into the other members of Slade. From memory I preferred Noddy’s book but it seems I didn’t write a review for that so I can’t be sure.

I have just completed reading a trilogy of books on Kiss. At Christmas I got

Face the Music: A Life Exposed – Paul Stanley

Paul has always been my favourite in Kiss and I was particularly impressed with his Autobiography. I believe it was ghost written by Tim Mohr and he has done a really good job. I particularly loved the prologue which superficially tells the story of applying the make-up while stating an outline for the book. It also reveals something I had no idea about with Paul Stanley; He is deaf on one side as he doesn’t have an ear. The story is very frank and inspiring. Towards the end I felt Paul was trying to get the praise he felt was overdue and I also picked up on the fact he only seemed to mention people if it was to have a moan. Overall I thought it the best of the three books I read. I was so inspired I decided to tackle

Kiss And Make-Up – Gene Simmons

I have had this sitting in my bookshelf since 2003 and surprisingly have never found time to read it. I do remember taking it on Holiday once but I didn’t get very far into it. This book was interesting but not as good as Paul’s book. The two characters are extremely different and it was interesting to counter-balance interpretations of the same events. Some of the events were told the same ways a Paul did so I wonder if they are true accounts or if they have repeated them some many times they are in agreement with each other. In both books it was fascinating how love caught them. Especially so with Gene Simmons who was very anti-marriage.

Having completed these book I had one more Kiss book on my shelves:

Kiss and Sell: The Making of a Supergroup – C.K. Lendt

This book has apparently sat in my bookshelf since 1997. I have no idea why. With all my years of illness I would expect I would have had time to get to it but apparently I didn’t. This was in no way a standard biography. It was an account of the business manager of the band from about 1975 to 1988 when his company was let go. As such the band had just made it big when he first met them. The author seems to have a good memory for clothing and food so often “big meetings” had a lot of surrounding detail. He also gave an excellent description of his first concert. Clearly the music wasn’t to his normal tastes and so it makes an interesting read. By about 1/3 through I was a little disappointed with the lack of information on the band itself and the characters within it. However once the band peaked in their success and then started to slip again I got very engrossed in all the behind the scenes explanations and difficulties of keeping a band on the road and the relationships of booking agents, promoters and merchandisers. If was a fascinating read if not quite what I was expecting from the title. There was probably more on Kiss’ marketing activities in the other books. Paul saying Gene took credit for a lot of it but not doing an awful lot and Gene definitely trying to take a lot of credit. This book suggests something between the two.

These books were a nice distraction and Paul’s and perhaps Gene’s to a lesser extent were quite inspiring.

I am very much into my hard rock bands but I am not big on guitarists as a rule. Last night at The Railway, Ipswich. I got to see someone that I figure is in my top 5 of guitarist that I just love to hear playing Uli Roth. (Others that spring to mind are Carlos Santana, Victor Smolski, Steve Morse, Tino Troy)
I saw Uli was going to play Ipswich about a month ago and even though I am not sure about all of his solo work I had to go along. I wasn’t sure what he would play and boy was I in for a treat.
He came on about 9.15 and played a set of about 50 minutes. The set was an interesting mix of music that he likes (I can’t think why else he did Deep Purple’s Mistreated), Hendrix (who was always his inspiration, Electric Sun (his 80’s band), Scorpions (the main reason I knew of him) and an Ian Gillan track I didn’t realise he had played on.
I just loved watching his fingers move and the passion with which he plays. I was very satisfied.
Then at 10.30 he returned for a second set. This mainly consisted of “Tokyo Tapes” era Scorpions tracks. I was in heaven. I only appreciated who Uli was when I saw him on a German Hendrix tribute and loved his playing. It made me realise what had happened in the Scorpions. I love most eras of the Scorpions except the 80’s albums they are most liked for (Lovedrive and Blackout in particular leave me cold). For me they become a typical rock band and live their set never included much from my favourite era. I assume the reason is Uli created much of the sound of the early Scorpions and his replacements had different styles. Being in Ipswich last night was like seeing Scorpions as I had always wanted them to be. The sound from my position directly in front of Uli was dreadful. I couldn’t hear the vocals but I didn’t care much as I was able to add them inside my head. More importantly though I was just lost in Uli’s playing. My recent album experience of him was that he had moved into playing the upper range of his guitar but last night he played the full range which meant he was down in the lower registers again and I was hearing him as I loved him.
I have had “Tokyo Tapes” since 1980/81 and my favourite track is “Fly To The Rainbow”. We didn’t get a full version of it last night but we got the bit that for three decades I have wanted to see.
The track starts as normal and then going into a quiet section with Uli Vocal and great feeling on the guitar. This is where we started. It then builds up and ends in a great feedback solo. Over the years I have played it loud so many times. It always moves me so to see it live and be stood just 2 feet away from the action I couldn’t have asked for more. It was fascinating seeing how it was done.
I felt the crowd was a bit disappointing in numbers but someone associated with Uli said he wants to get more regular UK gigs going as he is just so passionate about playing. I hope he will make it back into area again soon.
Uli didn’t leave the stage until about 11.45. He was really accommodating and friendly on and off stage. A really great night

Update: As I wrote this I had a sense that I had missed any important guitarist but I couldn’t place who. It was Tony Iommi. I have always loved his solos. Especially on the likes of my favourite album “Technical Ecstasy”.

It also occurred to me that I totally focused my review on Uli and failed to say anything about the band. It is perhaps hard for me to comment on them as I was so lost in Uli but I think I should give special praise to the Bass Player/Singer. I would love to have heard his vocals clearly as I think he had a great voice and an interesting interpretation. He is certainly a fun guy to watch. I was also impressed buy the second guitarist who I believe was only 16. On twin guitar parts he seemed very in sync with Uli and clearly has a good command of his instrument. It would have been nice to hear who these people were but sadly I couldn’t.

Firstly, praise for the venue, a lovely 14th Century barn. It is a great setting for a gig with good acoustics. As you drive to it, you wonder where a crowd will appear from as it is in the heart of Essex with only villages around it, but Karnataka still managed to draw a good crowd. Some were fans of the band, a lot seemed regulars of the venue.
The last time I saw Karnataka was in Rotherham in May 2004. Of course since then there have been massive changes, a new album with a new line-up and subsequently another big split. Based on tonight’s performance the band’s name and music are safe in the hands of Ian Jones, the band’s founder.

My first big surprise was the band is now a six piece. I see the website doesn’t list the drummer, and I couldn’t catch his name but the member who surprised me was Colin Mold who plays violin and guitars. This adds a nice extra dimension to the band and one that I look forward to hearing on the next album. Hayley Griffiths has a pure voice and handles Lisa Fury’s and Rachel Jones’s songs wonderfully. She is already delivering the lines with her own phrasing.

Enrico Pinna is excellent on lead guitar and was very enjoyable to watch.

Cagri Tozluoglu on keyboards had an interesting role as there is quite a bit of difference between the “old” Karnataka keyboard role and the “new” one. I wondered if Cagri would add more notes to the old songs to make the original material more like the modern style, but my initial impression was he played them as they were.

The set list was a good combination of old and new, and we had about 2hrs of music spread over two sets. When Hayley announced the second set was almost over after only 30mins it felt too short but the last song was “Heart of Stone” and the encore was “Into The Gathering Light” both lengthy songs. The second set also started with two tracks from Hayley’s solo album. These were very good tracks as performed last night. I am interested to hear if anyone has heard them on CD and if the arrangements are as good. I was also pleased that “State Of Grace” was played live. This is my favourite track from “Into The Gathering Light”.

I assume this is the second gig for this line-up, and if there was one weakness in the performance last night; for me, it was the lack of interaction between members on stage. The stage was a tight squeeze so perhaps there wasn’t enough room for movement, but Enrico did look like he was interested in interacting with the others but this didn’t happen last night.
My wife’s comments were that Hayley could use a tambourine for the moments when she on stage but not singing and that her favourite band was back. We are both keen to catch another date on this tour and if like me, you haven’t been to see the band in a long time I recommend you get along to a gig soon.